Paytm gets extension to apply for online payment aggregator permit

Digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates the Paytm brand, has 15 days more to apply for the online payment aggregator licence for its subsidiary PPSL, a regulatory filing said on Sunday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in November rejected its application for a payment aggregator (PA) licence for Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL) and asked to resubmit the application for the same within 120 days.

One97 Communications (OCL) in the regulatory filing said that it has received a letter from the RBI, which says PPSL can continue with the Online Payment Aggregation business, while it awaits approval from the central government for past investment from OCL into PPSL as per FDI Guidelines.

"As per RBI's letter, on receipt of approval from GoI, PPSL will have fifteen days to submit the application, seeking authorisation for PPSL to operate as an online PA," the filing said.

Paytm requires a permit to operate its payment gateway business through which it facilitates payments to various merchants.

The company said that during the pending process, PPSL can continue with its online payment aggregation business for existing partners without onboarding any new merchants.

"This continues to have no material impact on our business and revenues since the communication from RBI is applicable only to onboarding of new online merchants and we can continue to provide payment services to our existing online merchants," the filing said.